THE first Triple Eight V8 Supercar to win the Bathurst 1000 has been sold to a private collector with the sale price understood to make it perhaps the most valuable V8 Supercar in the world.
The 2006-winning Betta Electrical Falcon BA was driven to victory by Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup in an emotion-charged race, the first held at Bathurst since the death of Peter Brock in September 2006.
Lowndes and Whincup became the first winners of the Peter Brock Trophy driving this car, chassis 888A-010.
The car scored the first of eight wins for Triple Eight in the ‘Great Race’.
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The car has been on the market previously though Triple Eight boss Roland Dane was always thought to be unwilling to part with the car for anything less than $1 million.
V8 Sleuth sources suggesting the sale price of this car may have hit the seven-figure mark, which would make it a legitimate record sale price for a V8 Supercar.
Such a number would not be surprising given the amazing history of this car in addition to its Bathurst win.
It began its racing life with the team in 2005 and was Lowndes’ first car when he joined the team.
Powered by Stone Brothers Racing customer engines, it was driven by Lowndes all season and claimed Triple Eight’s first V8 Supercar race win that year at Eastern Creek.
He and Yvan Muller won the Sandown 500 in the car, which then famously had its windscreen smashed by an errant wheel at Bathurst, where it had started on pole position. Lowndes finished runner-up to Russell Ingall in the 2005 championship driving this chassis.
Lowndes again finished runner-up in the championship in 2006, competing in chassis 010 through to the end of the Gold Coast round. Whincup took over the chassis for Symmons Plains but was involved in a crash and it was sidelined until 2007.
It became Whincup’s Vodafone-backed BF through to the endurance races in 2007. He and Lowndes used it to win the Sandown 500 and it became the team spare until being required after Lowndes’ crash in the 2008 Adelaide 500 for a handful of rounds before returning to spare status.
Leased to Jesus Racing for its wildcard entries in the 2009 V8 Supercar endurance races, the car was restored to its 2006 Bathurst-winning specification and livery by former Triple Eight mechanic Gary Bailey over 2011 and finished in 2012.
The car has since spent time on display at the National Motor Racing Museum and will now join a private collection.
